“Under God” Does Not Establish Religion, Attorney Says

The president of a Christian legal group says a decision this year by the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance will have far-reaching ramifications on religious freedom in the United States.

Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow went to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two words in the Pledge of Allegiance  “under God”  establish a religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The high court is expected to rule later this year in the case.

Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says the case involves more than just the Pledge of Allegiance  that it is really about “the essence of America.”

“It's about the liberty upon which our founders based this country. It's about the acknowledgment of God as being integral to the foundation of our morality and our liberty,” the attorney says. “And indeed, if that [phrase] is ultimately displaced in the Pledge, many of these other references and acknowledgments will fall like dominos.”

How likely is it that the high court will side with the Ninth Circuit? “We don't believe the Supreme Court will open up that door,” Staver says, “because if it does, it would certainly affect much of our history and much of our heritage.”

According to the Liberty Counsel president, liberal activists are intent on removing the mention of God from the nation's history.

“There's a number of people who are bent on liberal activities and motivations to simply erase God from America,” he says, adding there is “overwhelming testimony” from the Founding Fathers to President George W. Bush in favor of acknowledging God.

“Each president, from George Bush all the way back to George Washington, has acknowledged God as part of their inaugural speeches  and certainly that has never established a religion,” Staver says.

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